Much like my Creamy Avocado Chicken Salad, Greek Yogurt Chicken Salad and Waldorf Chicken Salad recipes, this Asian-style chicken salad is packed with vibrant, crunchy ingredients. And has become one of my favorite chicken recipes so far.
Ingredients
The simple ingredients for this Asian sesame chicken salad recipe comes in three parts – the chicken, the homemade almond sesame dressing and the salad. But I haven’t even gotten to the best part – the Asian sesame ginger salad dressing! This delicious dressing is the reason my husband and I loved this salad. The Asian-style sauce is flavored with almond butter, which is then topped off with sliced crunchy almonds. If you are not a fan of almond butter, feel free to substitute it with peanut butter and chopped peanuts – but more on that later. This post was originally posted in August 2014. It has been updated with new information and minimal edits to the original recipe in June 2020. For the Asian sesame dressing recipe, gather together unsweetened almond butter, honey, rice vinegar, soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, garlic, fresh ginger, chile pepper sauce (my favorite is Sriracha) and coarse sea salt. And for the salad, get ready to shred green and red cabbage (aka purple cabbage), carrots, romaine lettuce (or curly salad greens), edamame beans, sesame seeds, sliced almonds, and fresh cilantro.
With Peanut Butter: Replace the almond butter with unsalted and unsweetened creamy peanut butter. Need more peanut flavor? Use roasted peanuts instead of sliced almonds.With Wonton Strips: Replace the roasted sliced almonds with an equal amount of crispy wonton strips. A little more indulgent, but incredibly delicious!Without Edamame: The edamame beans take this Asian salad to a whole new level, but they are optional. Feel free to omit them if you don’t have any on hand.Whole30: To compliment a Whole30 diet, simply omit the edamame beans and honey, replace the soy sauce with gluten-free coconut aminos, replace the rice vinegar in the salad dressing with fresh citrus juice (lemon, lime, orange or tangerine will all work) and use your favorite Whole30 approved (no added sugar) chili sauce.
Make the sesame salad up to a week in advance and keep it in a jar (tightly sealed) in the fridge.Slice the cabbage and shred the carrot as a part of your meal preparation. Keep them in airtight containers.Roast the chicken a day before, slice and store in airtight containers.Prep the rest of the ingredients right before you are ready to assemble it
Storage: What I love the most about this Sesame Asian Salad is that the leftovers make the best lunch/dinner the next day. Simply place the leftovers in an airtight container and keep it in the fridge for up to 2 days. To Meal Prep: Prep every component of the recipe separately. Store them in separate airtight containers and assemble right before serving.
Got Some Extra Cabbage? Try These Recipes:
If you liked this cabbage packed Chinese chicken salad and/or have some extra cabbage left on hand, here are a few more recipes you can try:
Stuffed Cabbage Soup recipeCabbage SaladEasy Chicken Lo Mein
